Views of the home of William Solomon, Roxbury, Mass.

Description

Bound album of albumen prints of a residence photographed by A. H. Folsom (photographer, 48 Alleghany St., Roxbury, Mass.). An image in the album showing a headstone suggests the subject of the album may have been the residence of William Solomon of 3 Autumn St., Roxbury, Mass. Solomon died in 1888, at which time Folsom photographed his headstone, using a format larger than that which appears on the album plates. These measure 6 x 8 inches, while the headstone image is 7.5 x 9.5 inches. The album includes ten leaves, some of which have photographs affixed to both sides. The images depict the interior and exterior of a mansard roofed house of modest proportions with a carriage house in the rear. Occupants are pictured in front of the residence and seated in a parlor. A series of sequential photographs takes the viewer through rooms of the residence which have been decorated, possibly after the death of a family member (possibly William Solomon himself). The rooms are decorated with handiwork of all types with many Japonnaise elements. There are views of parlors, the dining room with a set table, and exterior views including one of a man standing with a horse. The dining room is conspicuously lacking photographs as decoration (which are scattered throughout the other domestic spaces), with the perhaps important exception of a small photographic portrait tacked to the mantel cloth, perhaps of the deceased relative. Interspersed with Folsom's photographs are portraits of a cat and dog, both photographed in a smaller format and attached to the reverse of the pages that Folsom originally prepared. It is likely that the album is a combination of Folsom's professional work and that of an amateur photographer. The quality of the photographs is excellent, and they provide a wide range of details about prevailing middle-class tastes in the 1880s. Of particular note are pages 3, 14, and 15, which all show wallpapers used in the residence.

Note: blank pages have not been photographed.